London, January 17, 2007: Twenty British establishments were named winners in the results of the world's biggest hotels awards which were announced today. Called the TripAdvisor 2006 Travellers' Choice hotel awards, these are uniquely selected by millions of travellers from around the world who have posted their reviews or opinions about hotels on tripadvisor.com and across the web.

Three hundred and forty five hotels were honoured in the fifth year of the competition, receiving awards in nine categories: Best Luxury, Best Hidden Gems, Best Inns and B&Bs, Best Bargains, Best Pool, Best for Families, Best for Romance and Best Service. Four Seasons emerged as Best Brand, a new category.

Eight British hotels appear in the TripAdvisor list for the 100 Best Luxury hotels in the world with The Atlantic Hotel in St Brelade, Jersey winning the accolade of top placed UK hotel in the category. This 50 room four star seaside hotel is variously described by TripAdvisor travellers as "truly splendid", "a little gem", "fabulous", "sublime perfection" and the "best small hotel in Europe."

The Parkes Hotel in London which ranked 11 in the TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice World's Best Luxury was also selected a World Best City Hotel and Best Luxury Europe. The 33 bedroom luxury townhouse hotel is described by TripAdvisor member from Tennessee saying, "The Parkes hotel is the standard by which I measure other hotels! Within a few short hours we felt at home and even though we truly enjoy London, we actually looked forward to returning to our suite each night."

Scottish establishments dominated the Best Inns and B&Bs Europe category with the Trafford Bank Inverness and three Edinburgh businesses; Elmview, Geraldsplace and Blacket Garden Flat all featuring in the top 10. The Trafford Bank hotel was nominated a best Hidden Gem in the TripAdvisor 2005 Travellers' Choice Awards.

Other British top 10 successes in Europe included The Best Western Big Blue Hotel, Blackpool, Best for Families Europe; Hotel 41, London, Best for Romance Europe; Milestone Hotel London, Best Service; Chestnuts House, Bath and the Bay Tree House, London both for Best Inns and B&Bs Europe. The Clevedon Hotel Torquay received a double top ten for Best Bargain, Europe and for Best Hidden Gem, Europe.

Meanwhile remaining faithful to its promise to provide the whole truth about travel - the good, the bad and the ugly - TripAdvisor has also identified the UK's 10 "dirtiest" hotels based on traveller ratings for cleanliness. Leading the roll of grime is the Britannia Hotel Stockport. Some of the TripAdvisor reviews describe the establishment as "disgusting", "absolutely filthy", "a fleapit", "awful", "a rancid dump", "faulty hotel" and "a hovel". One traveller simply stated "for the love of God Stay away!" In fact Britannia Hotels have the dubious honour of having four hotels (three of which are in the Manchester area) named in the league of Britain's top 10 dirtiest.

Talking about the Travellers' Choice Awards, TripAdvisor European Communications manager Ian Rumgay said, "Unlike any other hotel awards programmes that survey perhaps thousands of people, TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice winners are uniquely "selected" by the millions of travellers from around the world who provide their real and unbiased reviews or opinions about hotels on tripadvisor.com and across the web. The UK is well represented in virtually all sectors from five star luxury through to family run B&Bs. Considering the competition from around the world this is an outstanding achievement and testimony to the quality and strength of the British hospitality industry at all levels."

People wanting to find out more about award winning (or the dirtiest) hotels in the TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards 2006 can visit www.tripadvisor.co.uk for more reviews and candid holiday photographs.

TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards 2006
Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels in the UK

1. Britannia Hotel Stockport
Dialstone Lane, Stockport SK2 6AG, England
Britannia Hotel Stockport

2. Nanford Guest House
137 Iffley Road, Oxford OX41EJ, England
Nanford Guest House

3. Master Brewer Hotel
Freezeland Way, Hillingdon | Uxbridge, UB10 9NX, England

4. Europa Gatwick
Balcombe Rd | Maidenbower, Crawley RH10 7ZR, England
Europa Gatwick

5. Hyde Park West
25-26 Pembridge Square, London W2 4DR, England
Hyde Park West

6. Park Hotel
64 Belgrave Road, London SW1V 2BP, England
Park Hotel

7. Corbigoe Hotel
101 Belgrave Road | Victoria, London SW1V 2BH, England
Corbigoe Hotel

8. Britannia Country House Hotel
Palatine Road | Didsbury, Manchester M20 8UF, England
Britannia Country House Hotel

9. Britannia Hotel Birmingham
New Street, Birmingham B2 4RX, England
Britannia Hotel Birmingham

10. Britannia Airport Hotel
Palatine Road | Northenden, Manchester M22 4FH, England
Britannia Airport Hotel

Note to editors

TripAdvisor is the largest travel community in the world, with some four million members, more than 5 million reviews and opinions covering 220,000+ hotels and attractions and more than 20 million unique monthly visitors worldwide (source: comScore Media Metrix, July 2006.)

Award Selection

The TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice award winners for 2006 were determined by a combination of TripAdvisor's Popularity Index and traveller ratings of specific property attributes. TripAdvisor's Popularity Index is a proprietary algorithm that determines traveller satisfaction based on a variety of sources, including TripAdvisor hotel reviews and travel articles and opinions from across the web. TripAdvisor recently added ratings to the hotel review process, allowing travellers to "grade" hotels based on a variety of attributes, including cleanliness, value and suitability for specific types of travellers.

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